Method and system for providing answer message to query message

ABSTRACT

Provided is a method and system for providing an answer message to a query message. An answer message providing method may include managing a plurality of chatrooms of an instant messaging service; receiving a query message in a preset form from a first user of a first chatroom among the plurality of chatrooms; forwarding the query message to second users through the instant messaging service; receiving an answer message to the query message from at least one of the second users; and providing the received answer message to be displayed through the first chatroom.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This U.S. application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/909,480 filed Jun. 23, 2020, and claims the benefit of priority under35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0074809 filedon Jun. 24, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). Theentire contents of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/909,480 and KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2019-0074809 are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND Field

One or more example embodiments relate to a method and system forproviding an answer message to a query message.

Description of Related Art

A chatroom refers to an Internet space in which users may chat with eachother online. The chatroom may include a chatroom that is opened betweenusers having a mutual personal relationship established to allow theusers to exchange contents online and may also include a chatroom thatallows strangers to gather and exchange contents based on a specificsubject. Korean Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2014-0096485 describes anapparatus, method, and computer-readable record medium for sendingcontents simultaneously through a plurality of chatting windows of amessenger service.

SUMMARY

One or more example embodiments provide a method and system forproviding an answer message that may forward a query created in achatroom of an instant messaging service to a plurality of unspecificusers using the instant messaging service through the instant messagingservice and may forward answers each in a form of an answer message fromthe plurality of unspecific users to the chatroom in which the query iscreated, such that users may send and receive queries and answers withthe plurality of unspecific users in the chatroom.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there isprovided an answer message providing method of a computer apparatusincluding at least one processor, the method including, by the at leastone processor, managing a plurality of chatrooms of an instant messagingservice; receiving a query message in a preset form from a first user ofa first chatroom among the plurality of chatrooms; forwarding the querymessage outside of the first chatroom to second users through theinstant messaging service; receiving an answer message to the querymessage from at least one of the second users; and providing thereceived answer message to be displayed through the first chatroom.

The forwarding of the query message to the second users may includeselecting the second users from among users of the instant messagingservice; opening second chatrooms joined by the selected second users,respectively; and forwarding the query message to each of the secondchatrooms.

The selecting of the second users may include allocating a query fieldof the query message by analyzing content of the query message orallocating the query field of the query message in response to an inputor a selection from the first user; and selecting, as the second users,users to which the allocated query field is designated as a specialfield.

The forwarding of the query message to the second users may includecreating a page for displaying query messages in the instant messagingservice; and providing the query messages to a plurality of unspecificusers accessing the page through the page.

The creating of the page may include allocating a query field of thequery message by analyzing content of the query message or allocatingthe query field of the query message in response to an input or aselection from the first user; and creating the page such that the querymessages are distinguishably displayed for each allocated query field.

The answer message providing method may further include, by the at leastone processor, further displaying the answer message in association withthe query message displayed on the page.

The answer message may be displayed in association with the querymessage in the first chatroom.

The answer message providing method may further include, by the at leastone processor, receiving a feedback from participants of the firstchatroom with respect to the answer message displayed through the firstchatroom; and selecting at least one answer message from among answermessages provided to the first chatroom or selecting at least one seconduser providing answer content of the selected at least one answermessage, based on the feedback.

The answer message providing method may further include, by the at leastone processor, displaying the selected at least one answer message to bedistinguished from other answer messages or determining a reward to beprovided to the selected at least one second user.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there isprovided an answer message providing method of a computer apparatusincluding at least one processor, the method including, by the at leastone processor, receiving a query message from a first user through aquery function provided from a first chatroom of an instant messagingservice; sending the received query message to a server that providesthe instant messaging service; receiving, from the server, an answermessage acquired in response to forwarding the query message from theserver to each of second users through the instant messaging service;and displaying the answer message through the first chatroom.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there isprovided a non-transitory computer-readable record medium storinginstructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor toperform the method.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there isprovided a computer apparatus including at least one processorconfigured to execute computer-readable instructions. The at least oneprocessor is further configured to manage a plurality of chatrooms of aninstant messaging service, receive a query message in a preset form froma first user of a first chatroom among the plurality of chatrooms,forward the query message to second users through the instant messagingservice, receive an answer message to the query message from at leastone of the second users, and provide the received answer message to bedisplayed through the first chatroom.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there isprovided a computer apparatus including at least one processorconfigured to execute computer-readable instructions. The at least onecomputer processor is further configured to receive a query message froma first user through a query function provided from a first chatroom ofan instant messaging service, send the received query message to aserver that provides the instant messaging service, receive, from theserver, an answer message acquired in response to forwarding the querymessage from the server to each of second users through the instantmessaging service, and display the answer message through the firstchatroom.

According to some example embodiments, since a query created in achatroom of an instant messaging service is forwarded to a plurality ofunspecific users using the instant messaging service through the instantmessaging service and answers each in a form of an answer message fromthe plurality of unspecific users are forwarded to the chatroom in whichthe query is created, users may send and receive queries and answerswith the plurality of unspecific users in the chatroom.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the descriptionprovided herein. The description and specific examples in this summaryare intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended tolimit the scope of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Example embodiments will be described in more detail with regard to thefigures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughoutthe various figures unless otherwise specified, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network environmentaccording to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computer apparatusaccording to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 3A illustrates an example of a chatroom 1 providing a queryfunction according to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 3B illustrates an example of a chatroom 1 providing a keypad inresponse to activation of a query function according to at least oneexample embodiment;

FIG. 3C illustrates an example of a chatroom 1 on which a query messagedisplayed according to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 3D illustrates an example of a chatroom 2 on which a query messagedisplayed according to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 3E illustrates an example of a chatroom 1 on which an answermessage displayed according to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a page on which a query message isdisplayed according to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of providing a feedback about an answermessage according to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates another example of providing a feedback about ananswer message according to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates another example of providing a feedback about ananswer message according to at least one example embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an answer messageproviding method of a server according to at least one exampleembodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an answer messageproviding method of a client according to at least one exampleembodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of registering a query message accordingto at least one example embodiment; and

FIG. 11 illustrates another example of registering a query messageaccording to at least one example embodiment.

It should be noted that these figures are intended to illustrate thegeneral characteristics of methods and/or structure utilized in certainexample embodiments and to supplement the written description providedbelow. These drawings are not, however, to scale and may not preciselyreflect the precise structural or performance characteristics of anygiven embodiment, and should not be interpreted as defining or limitingthe range of values or properties encompassed by example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more example embodiments will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. Example embodiments, however,may be embodied in various different forms, and should not be construedas being limited to only the illustrated embodiments. Rather, theillustrated embodiments are provided as examples so that this disclosurewill be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concepts ofthis disclosure to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, knownprocesses, elements, and techniques, may not be described with respectto some example embodiments. Unless otherwise noted, like referencecharacters denote like elements throughout the attached drawings andwritten description, and thus descriptions will not be repeated.

Although the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., may be used hereinto describe various elements, components, regions, layers, and/orsections, these elements, components, regions, layers, and/or sections,should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used todistinguish one element, component, region, layer, or section, fromanother region, layer, or section. Thus, a first element, component,region, layer, or section, discussed below may be termed a secondelement, component, region, layer, or section, without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure.

Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “under,”“above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease ofdescription to describe one element or feature's relationship to anotherelement(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will beunderstood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompassdifferent orientations of the device in use or operation in addition tothe orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device inthe figures is turned over, elements described as “below,” “beneath,” or“under,” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” theother elements or features. Thus, the example terms “below” and “under”may encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may beotherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and thespatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. Inaddition, when an element is referred to as being “between” twoelements, the element may be the only element between the two elements,or one or more other intervening elements may be present.

As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups, thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted products. Expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding alist of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modifythe individual elements of the list. Also, the term “exemplary” isintended to refer to an example or illustration.

When an element is referred to as being “on,” “connected to,” “coupledto,” or “adjacent to,” another element, the element may be directly on,connected to, coupled to, or adjacent to, the other element, or one ormore other intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when anelement is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to,”“directly coupled to,” or “immediately adjacent to,” another elementthere are no intervening elements present.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. Terms,such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of the relevant art and/or this disclosure, and should notbe interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expresslyso defined herein.

Example embodiments may be described with reference to acts and symbolicrepresentations of operations (e.g., in the form of flow charts, flowdiagrams, data flow diagrams, structure diagrams, block diagrams, etc.)that may be implemented in conjunction with units and/or devicesdiscussed in more detail below. Although discussed in a particularmanner, a function or operation specified in a specific block may beperformed differently from the flow specified in a flowchart, flowdiagram, etc. For example, functions or operations illustrated as beingperformed serially in two consecutive blocks may actually be performedsimultaneously, or in some cases be performed in reverse order.

Units and/or devices according to one or more example embodiments may beimplemented using hardware and/or a combination of hardware andsoftware. For example, hardware devices may be implemented usingprocessing circuitry such as, but not limited to, a processor, CentralProcessing Unit (CPU), a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), adigital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable gatearray (FPGA), a System-on-Chip (SoC), a programmable logic unit, amicroprocessor, or any other device capable of responding to andexecuting instructions in a defined manner.

Software may include a computer program, program code, instructions, orsome combination thereof, for independently or collectively instructingor configuring a hardware device to operate as desired. The computerprogram and/or program code may include program or computer-readableinstructions, software components, software modules, data files, datastructures, and/or the like, capable of being implemented by one or morehardware devices, such as one or more of the hardware devices mentionedabove. Examples of program code include both machine code produced by acompiler and higher level program code that is executed using aninterpreter.

For example, when a hardware device is a computer processing device(e.g., a processor), Central Processing Unit (CPU), a controller, anarithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, amicrocomputer, a microprocessor, etc., the computer processing devicemay be configured to carry out program code by performing arithmetical,logical, and input/output operations, according to the program code.Once the program code is loaded into a computer processing device, thecomputer processing device may be programmed to perform the programcode, thereby transforming the computer processing device into a specialpurpose computer processing device. In a more specific example, when theprogram code is loaded into a processor, the processor becomesprogrammed to perform the program code and operations correspondingthereto, thereby transforming the processor into a special purposeprocessor.

Software and/or data may be embodied permanently or temporarily in anytype of machine, component, physical or virtual equipment, or computerstorage medium or device, capable of providing instructions or data to,or being interpreted by, a hardware device. The software also may bedistributed over network coupled computer systems so that the softwareis stored and executed in a distributed fashion. In particular, forexample, software and data may be stored by one or more computerreadable storage mediums, including the tangible or non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media discussed herein.

According to one or more example embodiments, computer processingdevices may be described as including various functional units thatperform various operations and/or functions to increase the clarity ofthe description. However, computer processing devices are not intendedto be limited to these functional units. For example, in one or moreexample embodiments, the various operations and/or functions of thefunctional units may be performed by other ones of the functional units.Further, the computer processing devices may perform the operationsand/or functions of the various functional units without sub-dividingthe operations and/or functions of the computer processing units intothese various functional units.

Units and/or devices according to one or more example embodiments mayalso include one or more storage devices. The one or more storagedevices may be tangible or non-transitory computer-readable storagemedia, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), apermanent mass storage device (such as a disk drive, solid state (e.g.,NAND flash) device, and/or any other like data storage mechanism capableof storing and recording data. The one or more storage devices may beconfigured to store computer programs, program code, instructions, orsome combination thereof, for one or more operating systems and/or forimplementing the example embodiments described herein. The computerprograms, program code, instructions, or some combination thereof, mayalso be loaded from a separate computer readable storage medium into theone or more storage devices and/or one or more computer processingdevices using a drive mechanism. Such separate computer readable storagemedium may include a Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drive, a memorystick, a Blue-ray/DVD/CD-ROM drive, a memory card, and/or other likecomputer readable storage media. The computer programs, program code,instructions, or some combination thereof, may be loaded into the one ormore storage devices and/or the one or more computer processing devicesfrom a remote data storage device via a network interface, rather thanvia a local computer readable storage medium. Additionally, the computerprograms, program code, instructions, or some combination thereof, maybe loaded into the one or more storage devices and/or the one or moreprocessors from a remote computing system that is configured to transferand/or distribute the computer programs, program code, instructions, orsome combination thereof, over a network. The remote computing systemmay transfer and/or distribute the computer programs, program code,instructions, or some combination thereof, via a wired interface, an airinterface, and/or any other like medium.

The one or more hardware devices, the one or more storage devices,and/or the computer programs, program code, instructions, or somecombination thereof, may be specially designed and constructed for thepurposes of the example embodiments, or they may be known devices thatare altered and/or modified for the purposes of example embodiments.

A hardware device, such as a computer processing device, may run anoperating system (OS) and one or more software applications that run onthe OS. The computer processing device also may access, store,manipulate, process, and create data in response to execution of thesoftware. For simplicity, one or more example embodiments may beexemplified as one computer processing device; however, one skilled inthe art will appreciate that a hardware device may include multipleprocessing elements and multiple types of processing elements. Forexample, a hardware device may include multiple processors or aprocessor and a controller. In addition, other processing configurationsare possible, such as parallel processors.

Although described with reference to specific examples and drawings,modifications, additions and substitutions of example embodiments may bevariously made according to the description by those of ordinary skillin the art. For example, the described techniques may be performed in anorder different with that of the methods described, and/or componentssuch as the described system, architecture, devices, circuit, and thelike, may be connected or combined to be different from theabove-described methods, or results may be appropriately achieved byother components or equivalents.

Hereinafter, example embodiments will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

An answer message providing system according to the example embodimentsmay be performed by at least one computer apparatus, and an answermessage providing method according to the example embodiments may beperformed through at least one computer apparatus that implements theanswer message providing system. Here, a computer program according tothe example embodiments may be installed and run on the computerapparatus, and the computer apparatus may perform the answer messageproviding method according to the example embodiments under control ofthe executed computer program. Here, the computer program may be storedin a non-transitory computer-readable record medium to perform theanswer message providing method on a computer in conjunction with thecomputer apparatus.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network environment according to atleast one example embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, the networkenvironment may include a plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130,and 140, a plurality of servers 150 and 160, and a network 170. FIG. 1is provided as an example only. A number of electronic devices or anumber of servers is not limited thereto. Also, the network environmentof FIG. 1 is provided to describe one example among environmentsapplicable to the example embodiments. An environment applicable to theexample embodiments is not limited to the network environment of FIG. 1.

Each of the plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130, and 140 maybe a fixed terminal or a mobile terminal that is configured as acomputer apparatus. For example, the plurality of electronic devices110, 120, 130, and 140 may be a smartphone, a mobile phone, a navigationdevice, a computer, a laptop computer, a digital broadcasting terminal,a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP),a tablet PC, and the like. For example, although FIG. 1 illustrates ashape of a smartphone as an example of the electronic device 110, theelectronic device 110 used herein may refer to one of various types ofphysical computer apparatuses capable of communicating with otherelectronic devices 120, 130, and 140, and/or the servers 150 and 160over the network 170 in a wireless or wired communication manner.

The communication scheme is not limited and may include a near fieldwireless communication scheme between devices as well as a communicationscheme using a communication network (e.g., a mobile communicationnetwork, wired Internet, wireless Internet, and a broadcasting network)includable in the network 170. For example, the network 170 may includeat least one of network topologies that includes a personal area network(PAN), a local area network (LAN), a campus area network (CAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), a broadbandnetwork (BBN), and Internet. Also, the network 170 may include at leastone of network topologies that include a bus network, a star network, aring network, a mesh network, a star-bus network, a tree or hierarchicalnetwork, and the like. However, they are provided as examples only.

Each of the servers 150 and 160 may be configured as a computerapparatus or a plurality of computer apparatuses that provides aninstruction, a code, a file, content, a service, etc., throughcommunication with the plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130,and 140 over the network 170. For example, the server 150 may be asystem that provides a service (e.g., a messaging service, a mailservice, a social network service, a map service, a translation service,a financial service, a payment service, a search service, and a contentproviding service) to the plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130,and 140 connected over the network 170.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computerapparatus according to at least one example embodiment. For example,each of the plurality of electronic devices 110, 120, 130, and 140 oreach of the plurality of servers 150 and 160 may be implemented using acomputer apparatus 200 of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, the computer apparatus 200 may include a memory210, a processor 220, a communication interface 230, and an input/output(I/O) interface 240. The memory 210 may include a permanent mass storagedevice, such as random access (RAM), read only memory (ROM), and a discdrive, as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Here, thepermanent mass storage device, such as ROM and disc drive, may beincluded in the computer apparatus 200 as a separate permanent storagedevice different from the memory 210. Also, an operating system (OS) andat least one program code may be stored in the memory 210. Such softwarecomponents may be loaded from another non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium to the memory 210. The other non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium may include a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, for example, a floppy drive, a disk, atape, a DVD/CD-ROM drive, a memory card, etc. According to other exampleembodiments, software components may be loaded to the memory 210 throughthe communication interface 230, instead of, or in addition to, thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium. For example, thesoftware components may be loaded to the memory 210 of the computerapparatus 200 based on a computer program installed by files receivedover the network 170.

The processor 220 may be configured to process computer-readableinstructions of a computer program by performing basic arithmeticoperations, logic operations, and I/O operations. The computer-readableinstructions may be provided from the memory 210 or the communicationinterface 230 to the processor 220. For example, the processor 220 maybe configured to execute received instructions in response to a programcode stored in a storage device, such as the memory 220.

The communication interface 230 may provide a function for communicationbetween the computer apparatus 200 and another apparatus, for example,the aforementioned storage devices, over the network 170. For example,the processor 220 of the computer apparatus 200 may transfer data, afile, a request or an instruction created based on the program codestored in the storage device, such as the memory 220, etc., to otherapparatuses over the network 170 under control of the communicationinterface 230. Inversely, a signal, an instruction, data, a file, etc.,from another apparatus may be received at the computer apparatus 200through the communication interface 230 of the computer apparatus 200.For example, a signal, an instruction, data, etc., received through thecommunication interface 230 may be transferred to the processor 220 orthe memory 210, and a file, etc., may be stored in a storage medium, forexample, the permanent storage device, further includable in thecomputer apparatus 200.

The I/O interface 240 may be a device used for interface with an I/Oapparatus 250. For example, an input device may include a device, suchas a microphone, a keyboard, and a mouse, and an output device mayinclude a device, such as a display device and a speaker. As anotherexample, the I/O interface 240 may be a device for interface with anapparatus in which an input function and an output function areintegrated into a single function, such as a touchscreen. The I/Oapparatus 250 may be configured as a single apparatus with the computerapparatus 200.

According to other example embodiments, the computer apparatus 200 mayinclude a number of components greater than or less than a number ofcomponents shown in FIG. 2. However, there is no need to clearlyillustrate many components according to the related art. For example,the computer apparatus 200 may include at least a portion of the I/Oapparatus 250, or may further include other components, for example, atransceiver, a database (DB), and the like.

FIG. 3A through FIG. 3E illustrate an example of a process of providingan answer message to a query message according to at least one exampleembodiment. A first user may open a chatroom or may join an openedchatroom through a terminal of the first user.

FIG. 3A illustrate first screen 310 of chatroom 1 of the first user.Here, the example embodiment may provide a query function that enablesthe first user to create a query message through the chatroom 1. Forexample, the first screen 310 represents an example in which a useractivates a query function by pressing a button 311 for receiving thequery function.

FIG. 3B illustrate second screen 320 of the chatroom 1 of the firstuser. Here, the second screen 320 represents an example in which akeypad 321 for receiving an input of a text from the first user isdisplayed in response to activation of the query function. In this case,content input from the first user through the keypad 321 may be querycontent. Depending on example embodiments, the query content may beinput using various methods, such as an input through a voicerecognition function.

FIG. 3C illustrate third screen 330 of the chatroom 1 of the first user.The third screen 330 represents an example of a query message 331. Thequery message 331 may include query content input from the first userand may include an answer function 332 for creating an answer message tothe query content depending on example embodiments. For example, if theuser receives the query message 331 and selects the answer function 332,a user interface for receiving the answer content may be provided. Also,the query message 331 may be sent to a server 340 that provides aninstant messaging service. In this case, the server 340 may provide thequery message 331 to at least one second user. The query message 331 maybe forwarded to a second user using a variety of methods.

FIG. 3D illustrates an example of forwarding the query message 331through chatroom 2 of the second user. In detail, the server 340 mayselect second users from among users of the instant messaging service,may open chatrooms joined by the selected second users, respectively,and may forward the query message 331 to each of the chatrooms.Referring to FIG. 3D, a fourth screen 350 of chatroom 2 is displayed asone of the chatrooms opened for the second users. The query message 331may be displayed on the fourth screen 350. If the second user inputsanswer content through the answer function 332 included in the querymessage 331, an answer message 351 to the query message 331 may beforwarded to the server 340.

FIG. 3E illustrates an example of a fifth screen 360 of the chatroom 1.The answer message 351 may be displayed in the chatroom 1 in associationwith the query message 331.

The query message 331 may be forwarded to each of a plurality of secondusers, and a plurality of answer messages may be forwarded from thesecond users to the server 340. In this case, the plurality of answermessages may be displayed in the chatroom 1.

Also, as described above, the query message 331 may be forwarded to eachof the second users using a variety of methods.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a page on which a query message isdisplayed according to at least one example embodiment. FIG. 4illustrates an example of a page 400 on which a list of query messagesis displayed. In this case, second users receiving the query messagesmay be a plurality of unspecific second users accessing the page 400.

Depending on example embodiments, the query messages may be classifiedfor each query field and displayed on a corresponding page or pages. Thequery field may be allocated by the server 340 by analyzing the querymessages, or may be input from or selected by the user that creates aquery message when creating the query message. In this case, the server340 may classify each of the query messages for each query field and maycreate and provide a page or pages for displaying query messages foreach query field.

The page 400 may refer to a page in the instant messaging service. Forexample, a button or a link for access to the page 400 may be set on ahome screen of the instant messaging service, and the page 400 may beprovided to users through a user interface, such the button or the like.A user connected to the page 400, that is, a second user may createanswer content to a query message desired by the second user using ananswer function included in each of the query messages. The answermessage containing the answer content may be created and then forwardedto a chatroom of a user that creates the corresponding query messagethrough the server 340.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of providing a feedback about an answermessage according to at least one example embodiment. Referring to FIG.5, a screen 500 of a chatroom represents an example in which threeanswer messages, an answer message 1 520, an answer message 2 530, andan answer message 3 540, are forwarded in association with a querymessage 510. Here, participants joining the chatroom may recommend adesired answer message among the forwarded answer messages. Referring tothe screen 500, the answer message 1 520 is recommended by twoparticipants, the answer message 2 530 is recommended by fiveparticipants, and the answer message 3 540 is recommended by oneparticipant. Here, the answer message 2 530 most recommended may bedisplayed to be distinguished from other messages, for example, theanswer message 1 520 and the answer message 3 540. On the screen 500,the answer message 2 530 is indicated with a relatively thick line thanthose of the other messages, for example, the answer message 1 520 andthe answer message 3 540.

Also, depending on example embodiments, a preset reward may be providedto a second user having created an answer message most recommended orselected by a first user having created a corresponding query message.For example, the reward may be virtual currency or items available inthe instant messaging service and/or services linked with the instantmessaging service.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example of providing a feedback about ananswer message according to at least one example embodiment. FIG. 6illustrates examples of a first screen 610 and a second screen 620 ofchatroom 3 of a second user. Here, the first screen 610 represents anexample in which a forwarded query message 611 is displayed in thechatroom 3. The query message 611 may include a user interface forviewing other answer messages created for the corresponding querymessage 611. For example, referring to a first box 612 indicated withdotted lines on the first screen 610, a link “view other answers” fordisplaying other answer messages created for the query message 611 isset. In response to a selection from the user on the link “view otheranswers,” the first screen 610 of the chatroom 3 may be switched to thesecond screen 620 and answer messages 621 and 622 created for the querymessage 611 may be displayed. The second user may verify the answermessages 621 and 622 that are already created for the query message 611regardless of creating an answer to the query message 611, or to createthe answer to the query message 611. Also, the second user may recommendcontents of the answer messages 621 and 622. Even in this case, a mostrecommended message, for example, the answer message 622 to the querymessage 611, may be displayed to be distinguished from other answermessages, for example, the answer message 621 to the query message 611.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example of providing a feedback about ananswer message according to at least one example embodiment. FIG. 7illustrate examples of a first screen 710 and a second screen 720 for apage on which a list of query messages is displayed. Here, the firstscreen 710 represents an example in which query messages are displayedand each of the query messages includes a user interface for viewing ananswer posted to a corresponding query message. For example, referringto a first box 711 indicated with dotted lines on the first screen 710,a link “view answers” for displaying answer messages created for “querymessage 1” is set. If any user connected to a page selects the link“view answers,” the first screen 710 of the page is switched to thesecond screen 720 and answer messages 721 and 722 created for the “querymessage 1” may be displayed on the second screen 720. That is, any userconnected to the page may create an answer to at least one query messageamong the displayed query messages and may view answers created by otherusers. Also, any user connected to the page may recommend a desiredanswer message among the answer messages. In this case, a mostrecommended answer message may be displayed to be distinguished fromother answer messages.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an answer messageproviding method of a server according to at least one exampleembodiment. The answer message providing method according to the exampleembodiment may be performed by the computer apparatus 200 thatimplements the server. For example, the server may be a system thatprovides an instant messaging service to a terminal of a user. Forexample, the processor 220 of the computer apparatus 200 may beconfigured to execute a control instruction according to a code of atleast one program or a code of an OS included in the memory 210. Here,the processor 220 may control the computer apparatus 200 to performoperations 810 to 880 included in the answer message providing method ofFIG. 8 in response to a control instruction provided from a code storedin the computer apparatus 200.

Referring to FIG. 8, in operation 810, the computer apparatus 200 maymanage a plurality of chatrooms of the instant messaging service. Forexample, the computer apparatus 200 may be a physical device forconfiguring a server that provides the instant messaging service to aplurality of users, and may manage a plurality of chatrooms opened byusers. In detail, for example, the computer apparatus 200 may manage aplurality of chatrooms by storing an identifier of each of the pluralityof chatrooms, identifiers of users joining each of the plurality ofchatrooms, and identifiers of messages sent or received in each of theplurality of chatrooms to be associated with one another. Here, thecomputer apparatus 200 may route messages such that each of messagessent and received in chatrooms through the instant messaging service maybe forwarded to a user of an appropriate destination.

In operation 820, the computer apparatus 200 may receive a query messagein a preset form from a first user of a first chatroom among theplurality of chatrooms. The first user may be one of participantsjoining the first chatroom. As a query message is sent to the serverthrough a query function provided from the first chatroom, the computerapparatus 200 may receive the query message. The query message may be ina preset form. The preset form may not be particularly limited if it isa form for distinguishing the query message from general messages sentand received in the first chatroom.

In operation 830, the computer apparatus 200 may forward the querymessage to any second users through the instant messaging service. Here,the second users may be a plurality of unspecific users from perspectiveof the first user. On the contrary, in the computer apparatus 200 thatconfigures the server, the second users may be a plurality of specificusers or a plurality of unspecific users depending on exampleembodiments. In one example embodiment, the computer apparatus 200 mayselect the second users from among users of the instant messagingservice and may open second chatrooms joined by the selected secondusers, respectively. For example, ten second chatrooms may be opened forten second users, respectively. Here, by forwarding the query message toeach of the second chatrooms, the query message may be forwarded to eachof the second users. In this case, the second users may be a pluralityof specific users from perspective of the computer apparatus 200, andmay be a plurality of unspecific users from perspective of the firstuser. Also, the computer apparatus 200 may allocate a query field of thequery message by analyzing content of the query message or may allocatethe query field of the query message in response to an input or aselection from the first user to select the second users, and mayselect, as the second users, users to which the allocated query field isdesignated as a special field. For example, in the case of creating aquery message, the first user may input or select a query field of thecorresponding query message. If the first user does not input or selectthe query field, the computer apparatus 200 may allocate the query fieldby directly analyzing the query message. In another example embodiment,the computer apparatus 200 may create a page for displaying querymessages in the instant messaging service and may provide the querymessages to a plurality of unspecific users accessing the page throughthe page. Description related to the page is made above with referenceto FIG. 5. In this case, the second users may be a plurality ofunspecific users from perspective of both the first user and thecomputer apparatus 200. To create the page, the computer apparatus 200may allocate the query field of the query message by analyzing contentof the query message or may allocate the query field of the querymessage in response to an input or a selection from the first user andmay create the page such that the query messages may be distinguishablydisplayed for each allocated query field.

In operation 840, the computer apparatus 200 may receive an answermessage to the query message from at least one of the second users. Notall of the second users receiving the query message do not create ananswer message. That is, since whether to create an answer message isdetermined by the second users, a number of answer messages may bevariable and an answer message may be absent depending on exampleembodiments. If any second user creates and sends an answer message, thecomputer apparatus 200 may receive the answer message.

In operation 850, the computer apparatus 200 may provide the receivedanswer message to be displayed through the first chatroom. For example,referring to the fifth screen 360 of FIG. 3, the answer message may bedisplayed through the first chatroom in which the corresponding querymessage is created. Here, the answer message may be displayed inassociation with the query message in the first chatroom. If the querymessage is not displayed due to a large number of messages sent andreceived in the chatroom, the query message or query content included inthe query message may be further displayed together when displaying ananswer message. Depending on example embodiments, the computer apparatus200 may further display an answer message in association with the querymessage displayed on the page. That is, second users accessing the pagemay also verify answers of other second users on the page.

In operation 860, the computer apparatus 200 may receive a feedback fromparticipants of the first chatroom with respect to the answer messagedisplayed through the first chatroom. The feedback may occur through“recommend” described above with reference to FIG. 5. The computerapparatus 200 may manage a number of recommendations with respect toeach of the answer messages.

In operation 870, the computer apparatus 200 may select at least oneanswer message from among answer messages provided to the first chatroomor may select at least one second user providing answer content of theselected at least one answer message, based on the feedback. Forexample, an answer message corresponding to a largest number ofrecommendations may be selected. Alternatively, a second user providinganswer content of the answer message corresponding to the largest numberof recommendations may be selected. Depending on example embodiments,selecting of the answer message or the second user may be performed inresponse to a selection from a first user having created a correspondingquery message.

In operation 880, the computer apparatus 200 may display the selected atleast one answer message to be distinguished from other answer messagesor may determine a reward to be provided to the selected at least onesecond user. An example of displaying the selected answer message to bedistinguished from the other answer messages is described above withreference to FIG. 5. Also, as described above, a virtual currency oritem may be provided to the second user as a reward.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an answer messageproviding method of a client according to at least one exampleembodiment. The answer message providing method according to the exampleembodiment may be performed by the computer apparatus 200 thatimplements a terminal of a user. For example, the processor 220 of thecomputer apparatus 200 may be configured to execute a controlinstruction according to a code of at least one program or a code of anOS included in the memory 210. Here, the processor 220 may control thecomputer apparatus 200 to perform operations 910 to 940 included in themethod of FIG. 9 in response to a control instruction provided from acode stored in the computer apparatus 200.

Referring to FIG. 9, in operation 910, the computer apparatus 200 mayreceive a query message from a first user through a query functionprovided from a first chatroom of an instant messaging service. Forexample, an example in which a user activates a query function bypressing the button 311 for receiving the query function is describedabove with reference to FIG. 3.

In operation 920, the computer apparatus 200 may send the received querymessage to a server that provides the instant messaging service. Thequery message may be in a preset form to be distinguished from generalmessages and may be sent to the server in the same manner as the generalmessages. Here, the server may process the query message to be differentfrom the general messages through the preset form of the query message.As described above with FIG. 6, the server may forward the query messageto any second users through the instant messaging service, may receivean answer message to the query message from at least one of the secondusers, and may provide the received answer message to be displayedthrough the first chatroom.

In operation 930, the computer apparatus 200 may receive, from theserver, an answer message acquired in response to forwarding the querymessage from the server to any second users through the instantmessaging service. For example, the second users may include usersselected from among users of the instant messaging service based on aquery field of the query message, the query message may be forwarded toeach of the second chatrooms opened for the second users, respectively,and the answer message may be created to include answer content inputfrom each of the second users to the corresponding second chatroom. Asanother example, the query message may be displayed through a pagecreated in the instant messaging service, and the second users mayinclude a plurality of unspecific users accessing the page. Here, if thesecond users input answer contents to the query message displayedthrough the page, answer messages including the input answer contentsmay be forwarded to the computer apparatus 200 through the server.

In operation 940, the computer apparatus 200 may display the answermessage through the first chatroom. Therefore, participants of the firstchatroom may receive answer messages to the query message. Also, asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 5, the participants of the firstchatroom may recommend a desired answer message among the answermessages and a best answer message or a best answerer may be selectedbased on a number of recommendations. The best answer message may bedisplayed to be distinguished from other answer messages and a presetreward may be provided to the best answerer.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of registering a query message accordingto at least one example embodiment. FIG. 10 illustrate examples of afirst screen 1010 and a second screen 1020 of chatroom 4. The firstscreen 1010 represents an example in which a message 1011 is displayedin the chatroom 4. Here, in response to an occurrence of a presetgesture, such as a touch gesture, performed on an area displayed on themessage 1011 during at least a predetermined (or, alternatively,desired) period of time, a user interface 1021 associated with themessage 1011 may be provided on the second screen 1020. The userinterface 1021 may include various functions of copying, saving, anddeleting content of the message 1011. Here, in the example embodiment,the user interface 1021 may include a function for registering themessage 1011 as a query message as shown in a box 1022 indicated withdotted lines.

As described above, a function for registering, as a query message, amessage desired by the user among messages sent and received inchatrooms may be provided to the user. As described above, theregistered query message may be forwarded to the plurality of unspecificusers through various paths to acquire an answer message.

FIG. 11 illustrates another example of registering a query messageaccording to at least one example embodiment. FIG. 11 illustrateexamples of a first screen 1110, a second screen 1120, and a thirdscreen 1130 of chatroom 5. The first screen 1110 represents an examplein which a message 1 1111 is displayed in the chatroom 5. Here, inresponse to an occurrence of a preset gesture, such as a touch gesture,performed on an area displayed on the message 1 1111 during at least apredetermined (or, alternatively, desired) period of time, a userinterface 1121 associated with the message 1 1111 may be provided on thesecond screen 1120. The user interface 1121 may include variousfunctions of copying, saving, and deleting content of the message 11111. Here, in the example embodiment, the user interface 1121 mayinclude a function for creating an answer to the message 1 1111. Thethird screen 1130 represents an example in which an answer message 1131to the message 1 1111 is displayed. In this case, the server thatprovides the instant messaging service to the terminal of the user mayanalyze content of at least one of the message 1 1111 and the answermessage 1131 and may register the message 1 1111 as a query message.

That is, that an answer message to a specific message is input mayrepresent that a probability that the specific message includes a queryis relatively high. Accordingly, the server may analyze content of atleast one of the specific message and the answer message, and mayautomatically register the specific message as a query message. Forexample, if onomatopoeia is input as an answer to a specific message, aprobability that the specific message includes a query is relativelylow. On the contrary, if an answer message includes a descriptionrelated to a specific subject, a probability that the specific messageincludes a query related to the corresponding subject is relativelyhigh. As another example, if content of a specific message includes arepresentation using a question mark or an interrogative form, aprobability that the specific message includes a query is relativelyhigh. As described above, the server may analyze content of the specificmessage and/or content of the answer message and may automaticallyregister the specific message as a query message.

As described above, various functions for registering a correspondingmessage as a query message may be provided even with respect to ageneral message already sent and received.

According to some example embodiments, since a query created in achatroom of an instant messaging service is forwarded to a plurality ofunspecific users using an instant messaging service through the instantmessaging service and answers each in a form of an answer message fromthe plurality of unspecific users are forwarded to the chatroom in whichthe query is created, users may send and receive queries and answerswith the plurality of unspecific users in the chatroom.

The systems or the apparatuses described herein may be implemented usinghardware components, software components, and/or a combination thereof.For example, the apparatuses and components may be implemented using oneor more general-purpose or special purpose computers, such as, forexample, a processor, a controller, an arithmetic logic unit, a digitalsignal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable gate array(FPGA), a programmable logic unit (PLU), a microprocessor or any otherdevice capable of responding to and executing instructions in a definedmanner. A processing device may run an operating system (OS) and one ormore software applications that run on the OS. The processing devicealso may access, store, manipulate, process, and create data in responseto execution of the software. For purpose of simplicity, the descriptionof a processing device is used as singular; however, one skilled in theart will appreciated that a processing device may include multipleprocessing elements and multiple types of processing elements. Forexample, a processing device may include multiple processors or aprocessor and a controller. In addition, different processingconfigurations are possible, such as parallel processors.

The software may include a computer program, a piece of code, aninstruction, or some combinations thereof, for independently orcollectively instructing or configuring the processing device to operateas desired. Software and/or data may be embodied permanently ortemporarily in any type of machine, component, physical equipment,virtual equipment, and computer storage medium or device, to provideinstructions or data to or being interpreted by the processing device.The software also may be distributed over network coupled computersystems so that the software is stored and executed in a distributedfashion. In particular, the software and data may be stored by one ormore computer readable storage mediums.

The methods according to the example embodiments may be recorded innon-transitory computer-readable storage media including programinstructions to implement various operations embodied by a computer. Themedia may also include, alone or in combination with the programinstructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The media andprogram instructions may be those specially designed and constructed forthe purposes, or they may be of the kind well-known and available tothose having skill in the computer software arts. Examples ofnon-transitory computer-readable storage media include magnetic mediasuch as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media suchas CD ROM disks and DVD; magneto-optical media such as floptical disks;and hardware devices that are specially to store and perform programinstructions, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory(RAM), flash memory, and the like. Also, examples of other media mayinclude app stores that distribute applications, sites that supply anddistribute a variety of software, and record media and storage mediamanaged by a server. Examples of program instructions include bothmachine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containinghigher level code that may be executed by the computer using aninterpreter. The described hardware devices may be to act as one or moresoftware modules in order to perform the operations of theabove-described embodiments, or vice versa.

The foregoing description has been provided for purposes of illustrationand description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit thedisclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular exampleembodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but,where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selectedembodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same mayalso be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intendedto be included within the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An answer message providing method of a computerapparatus comprising at least one processor, the method comprising: bythe at least one processor, providing a query function that enables auser of the computer apparatus to create a query message through a firstchatroom of an instant messaging service; receiving an input of querycontent from the user through the query function; displaying the querymessage including an answer function for creating an answer message tothe query content in the first chatroom, the query message createdthrough the query function being displayed to be different from generalmessages in the first chatroom; and in response to receiving an answermessage through the answer function from another user different from theuser, displaying the received answer message in association with thequery message.
 2. The answer message providing method of claim 1,further comprising: in response to receiving the answer message throughthe answer function from the other user different from the user,displaying the received answer message in a second chatroom differentfrom the first chatroom in association with the query message.
 3. Theanswer message providing method of claim 1, further comprising: creatinga page for displaying a plurality of query messages including the querymessage in the instant messaging service; and displaying, on the page,the query messages and an answer message received for each of the querymessages in association with each corresponding query message.
 4. Theanswer message providing method of claim 3, wherein the creating thepage comprises: allocating a query field to the query message byanalyzing content of the query message or allocating the query field tothe query message in response to an input or a selection from the user;and creating the page such that the query messages are distinguishablydisplayed for each query field allocated to each corresponding querymessage.
 5. The answer message providing method of claim 3, wherein thedisplaying, on the page, the query message and the answer messagecomprises displaying the answer message in association with the querymessage in response to the input or the selection from the user.
 6. Theanswer message providing method of claim 3, wherein the query messagedisplayed in the first chatroom includes a button or a link for accessto the page.
 7. The answer message providing method of claim 1, whereinthe displaying the answer message in association with the query messagecomprises displaying the plurality of answer messages received throughthe answer function in association with the query message in the firstchatroom, and the answer message providing method further comprises: bythe at least one processor, receiving feedback from participants of thefirst chatroom about the answer message displayed in the first chatroom;and selecting at least one of the answer messages based on the feedbackor another user having created at least one answer message selectedbased on the feedback.
 8. The answer message providing method of claim7, further comprising: by the at least one processor, displaying theselected at least one answer message to be distinguished from remaininganswer messages or determining a reward to be provided to the selectedother user.
 9. A non-transitory computer-readable record medium storinginstructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causethe at least one processor to perform the method of claim
 1. 10. Acomputer apparatus comprising: at least one processor configured toexecute computer-readable instructions included in a memory, wherein theat least one processor is further configured to: provide a queryfunction that enables a user of the computer apparatus to create a querymessage through a first chatroom of an instant messaging service,receive an input of query content from the user through the queryfunction, display the query message including an answer function forcreating an answer message to the query content in the first chatroom,in response to receiving an answer message through the answer functionfrom another user different from the user, display the received answermessage in association with the query message, and display the querymessage created through the query function to be different from generalmessages in the first chatroom.
 11. The computer apparatus of claim 10,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to in responseto receiving the answer message through the answer function from theother user different from the user, display the received answer messagein a second chatroom different from the first chatroom in associationwith the query message.
 12. The computer apparatus of claim 10, whereinthe at least one processor is further configured to: create a page fordisplaying a plurality of query messages including the query message inthe instant messaging service, and display, on the page, the querymessages and an answer message received for each of the query messagesin association with each corresponding query message.
 13. The computerapparatus of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is configuredto: in creating the page, allocate a query field to the query message byanalyzing content of the query message or allocating the query field tothe query message in response to an input or a selection from the user,and create the page such that the query messages are distinguishablydisplayed for each query field allocated to each corresponding querymessage.
 14. The computer apparatus of claim 12, wherein the at leastone processor is further configured to display, on the page, the answermessage in association with the query message in response to the inputor the selection from the user.
 15. The computer apparatus of claim 12,wherein the query message displayed in the first chatroom includes abutton or a link for access to the page.
 16. The computer apparatus ofclaim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:display the plurality of answer messages received through the answerfunction in association with the query message in the first chatroom,receive feedback from participants of the first chatroom about theanswer message displayed in the first chatroom, and select at least oneof the answer messages based on the feedback or another user havingcreated at least one answer message selected based on the feedback. 17.The computer apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one processoris configured to display the selected at least one answer message to bedistinguished from remaining answer messages or determine a reward to beprovided to the selected other user.